How can I launch an executable from an IIS-hosted WCF service? - wcf

We have a WCF service that we recently switched from self-hosting to IIS-hosted. It needs to launch an executable using Process.Start(). This works fine when it's self-hosted, but when hosted in IIS, we get the error:
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified
We have the exe in both the bin directory and in the application root (next to the .svc file.) But, it can't seem to find the exe.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
EDIT: I forgot to mention that we're launching using the following code:
Process.Start("LeakingWrapper.exe");
FURTHER INFO: Unfortunately, we don't have the option to switch the exe to a dll, because it is wrapping a third-party library that leaks memory. So, we have to put it into its own process to ensure our long-running WCF service doesn't leak!

Do you have the aspNetCompatibilityEnabled setting set to true? In that case, you'd have a HttpContext, which could try to use to call something like:
string exeFileName = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/LeakingWrapper.exe")
Or: what if you specify the whole path to the EXE, e.g.
Process.Start("C:\yourServiceDir\bin\LeakingWrapper.exe")
Does that help at all??
Marc

marc_s answer is probably correct.
However, it could also be that the process cannont find the file because it does not have the rights to read the exe file.

To use the web service's path using HttpContext you must include the following line in your web service's web.config
<configuration>
<system.serviceModel>
<serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" />
</system.serviceModel>
</configuration>`

Related

How to add WCF service on IIS Express?

I have the wcf service package, waiting to be put in IIS. Everything goes fine when I create a virtual directory on the default website and etc. But when I try to access the path in Chrome I get an error:
It is an error to use a section registered as allowDefinition='MachineToApplication' beyond application level. This error can be caused by a virtual directory not being configured as an application in IIS.
When I comment this section:
<serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true"
multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
I can access the directory but not the service. Any idea?
I tried a little more and figured out what I was doing wrong. I can't create an virtual path under the Default Website. I had to create my own site, which appoint to the folder where my WCF files are storage. Something like this:
appcmd add site /name:WcfService1 /id:2 /physicalPath:C:\WcfService1 /bindings:http/*:8080
This way the virtual directory will be marked as an applicattion and everything will work just fine.

Problem with type of service in ServiceHost directive in wcf service

I am developing a simple wcf service for test. When I test this service with my local IIS 7.5, then it works properly. But when I host it in web IIS, I receive this error:
The type 'WcfServiceLibrary1.Service1',
provided as the Service attribute
value in the ServiceHost directive, or
provided in the configuration element
system.serviceModel/serviceHostingEnvironment/serviceActivations
could not be found.
And my ServiceHost is:
<%# ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" Service="WcfServiceLibrary1.Service1" %>
Please help me resolve this problem
Because I couldn't find this suggested in any of the questions I looked through for this, adding my case here:
I had this problem when I manually changed the namespace in the file MyService.svc.cs, and did not change the Service name in the corresponding file MyService.svc - turned out that it needed to be Service="namespace.classname".
Try using the assembly qualified type name.
This is [Fully Qualified Type Name], [Assembly]
Where [Fully Qualified Type Name] is, in the most common cases YourNamespace.YourType
And [Assembly] is, in the most common cases YourAssemblyName, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
It gets more complicated than this (generic types, nested types etc) - but unlikely to be so in your case.
If your application is using the default build options, then I'm going to hazard a guess that the directive should be something like this:
<%# ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true"
Service="WcfServiceLibrary1.Service1,
WcfServiceLibrary1,
Version=1.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=null" %>
Although you'll probably want to get rid of the newlines there.
Also, make sure your dll has actually been deployed
I had the same issue only when publishing my service but it worked locally.
It turned out to be that the service was referencing a DLL that wasn't being deployed. It's a super special case because it was a system dll (System.Web.Helpers) and thus the project didn't even have a reference to it and thus the "Copy Local" wasn't set to true.
IIS defaults to expecting to see the svc file in the virtual directory, and the binaries inside a bin folder (as marc_s commented).
However, the default build configuration for WCF Library projects is to build inside a bin/Debug folder (or bin/Release). You can change the Output Path to 'bin/' on the project properties Build tab.
Changing this resolved this error for me today.
I had this same problem after I deployed a working service to a new location (new site) in IIS. In inetmgr under the Default Website tree, I hadn't right-clicked the new site and selected Convert to Application - all working now!
Finally my problem solved.
I removed the service directory in my host and created a new virtual directory in the host space. Then I copied my service in new directory where I created it.
Now I can browse the .svc file for service and my client will consume the service.
I don't understand why this problem occurred! I am a little confused!
The answer marked as answer is very difficult to understand. In fact, although it led me to solve my similar problem, I don't know if that's because I accurately understand what the writer was meaning.
I was finding if I pointed an IIS application on my development machine to the actual project directory in which resides the web.config, MyService.svc, and bin folders necessary for the WCF Service Application it just wouldn't work, and was throwing this error. This is despite quadruple checking every setting and ensuring that things were equivalent to other simple, working WCF Applications.
Ultimately, I solved the problem by publishing to a different directory rather than depending on the project files and directory themselves.
Perhaps it was because the files were open in Visual Studio as I was trying to run the WCF application through IIS? I don't know, but the Visual Studio provided localhost:59871/... was working. I don't know if that instance is using the project files or a temporary published version.
Check whether namespace and class written in "Service" of "SeviceHost" is correct .It should be Service="namespace.classname" .
Another reason for this issue is often when a wcf service is moved from one directory to another, and the svc file has not been updated... easiest solution is to double check your .svc file and make sure the service definition is defined correctly.
As I can't up vote #jeromeyers answer at the moment, I want to add that this is the solution that I found for this issue.
Someone had copied and pasted a svc file and associated contract and code files to a new project, but they had not updated the namespaces and class names everywhere. Very frustrating tracking this down as it started with this error :
" name was started with an invalid character. Error processing resource 'file:///C:/...
<% #ServiceHost "
when trying to right click on the .svc file and doing "View in browser".
Even though this is slightly different than the question (not web iis): I got here through search because I was getting this error trying to Debug my service -- if you have multiple services inside a single solution, this error will occur if the solution in question is not built yet, and therefore the DLL not created when you try to access it. So to anyone out there make sure if running locally that the entire solution is built!
had this problem running a test project that was embedded in my solution.
I had to view in browser, then copy that link to a new service reference (delete the old one) then paste it in rather than using the discover utility button in the service reference.
Strange as well, after looking and trying others suggestions, i was still getting the error saying the:
The type ', provided as the Service attribute value in the ServiceHost directive, or provided in the configuration element system.serviceModel/serviceHostingEnvironment/serviceActivations could not be found.
Sure we all get large project with a lot of DLLs. Turned out some of the older components in my solution were targeting .Net 4.5, and newer dll were build with 4.5.1. When the 4.5 dlls referenced the 4.5.1 dlls .... Not sure why i was the happy little guinea pig to be the first on my team to find this. While the fix was obvious and easy enough, just all the dlls to target the same .Net runtime.
Just wish Visual Studio would notice DLLs within the same solution should all target the same .Net runtime and generate a warning/error when building especially with we have a solution and a project reference and the runtimes don't match...
Be sure your compiled dlls are moved to service(IIS directory)
directory.
For example, sometimes Jenkins doesn't move them automatically.
I had the same issue when i uploaded my working localhost service to a new location on host.
I create a new Virtual Directory and published my Service to it via Visual Studio(FTP). Problem Solved.
It happend the same to me and the solution was creating a forder named "bin" and place the dll inside of it. Then, refresh the website on IIS and that's all
I had this problem too, and what did the magic for me was to restart the IIS.
This is a very weird error.
First time hosting WCF Service Application, in IIS ?
Many have solved their problems one way or the other. However if everything is your solution is correct and your error is about host your app in IIS, then ensure your physical path in IIS when you add your website is pointed to the "bin" directory of your solution as seen below in the screen shots.
Please look at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733766(v=vs.100).aspx
You need to do 2 things to be able to Host the Service on IIS, or even on Visual Studio's itergrated IIS_EXPRESS.
1) Update the Web.Config to include ServiceActivations
change:
<serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
to
<serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true">
<serviceActivations>
<add service="API.Service1" relativeAddress="Service1.svc"/>
</serviceActivations>
</serviceHostingEnvironment>
2) You need to create a directory called App_Code in the root directory.
You now need to move the Service (ex: Service1.svc) from the root directory into the App_Code directory.
So you will have App_Code\Service1.svc
If you browse the Service
http://localhost:63309/Service1.svc it should work.

WCF Service Reference issue on production in console application

I have 1 c# Console Application project, which has Program.cs (that contains main method), the main method simple calls a web service method and displays the string on the console.
The service reference is added in the project by right clicking it and adding service reference it to it.
when the console application is executed in debug mode from visual studio, it works as expected.
when the console application is executed from a .exe found in /bin/debug, it works as expected.
so far so good.
PROBLEM:
when the project is copied over to the system (you can call it a production environment), where this .exe will actually be executed, it fails at the exact line where i create the service proxy object. the line in Program.cs is:
ProjectName.ServiceReference.ServiceClient service = new ProjectName.ServiceReference.ServiceClient();
I know it fails here, because i have Console.Writeline("some line"); before and after the above line. I can see the Console.Writeline that is before the proxy line, and soon after that it crashes ...
I think this is because the reference paths that are referencing the service, is there any thing i can do to change the paths, or confirm that it is the path issue as suspected ...??
any idea whats going wrong ..???
Check this link: http://blog.davidsandor.com/post/Workaround-The-configuration-for-the-servicee280a6Unrecognized-element-e28098extendedProtectionPolicye28099.aspx
The configuration for the service reference could not be updated due
to the following issue: Unrecognized element
‘extendedProtectionPolicy’. (App.config / Web.config)
There does not seem to be a really clear reason why this is happening
however it seems to be related to Windows 7. I am not sure if the
.NET framework that ships with Win7 has some different setting or
template for the WCF configuration policy files but it seems to be the
culprit. Maybe the machine.config files are different on Win 7 and
the WCF configuration tools use the machine.config as some sort of
policy template.
The fix is annoying (because every time you build your solution on
Windows 7 and then rebuild on Vista you have to redo this).
Remove the line:
<extendedProtectionPolicy policyEnforcement="Never" />
from both your App/Web.config file on the client and on the WCF
server’s Web.config file.

Unable to automatically step into the server. The remote procedure could not be debugged

I am having a problem stepping into code which is a website hosted on IIS7.
Basically I have a test class which calls a WCF service like so
ISecurityService service = new SecurityServiceClient();
MembershipUser membershipUser = null;
membershipUser = service.GetMembershipUser("Mark"); // THIS LINE FAILS!!!
I get the following error but I have everything enabled as far as I know, i.e.
<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0" />
Here is the error msg, I would appreciated any feedback. If I don't try and step into the line above then all works ok.
Microsoft Visual Studio
Unable to automatically step into the server. The remote procedure could not be debugged. This usually indicates that debugging has not been enabled on the server. See help for more information.
dont forget to set compilation debug="true" in your wcf service web.config file.
are you using vista by any chance?
anyways, take a look at this post:
http://mvolo.com/blogs/serverside/archive/2006/12/28/Fix-problems-with-Visual-Studio-F5-debugging-of-ASP.NET-applications-on-IIS7-Vista.aspx
hope it helps
EDIT: have a look here as well
Return MembershipUser using WCF service
You can also try turning on anonymous authentication in IIS. That worked for me when I encountered this issue.
I've had the same error. The problem was that the WCF web service's site on IIS was stopped, because another process was occupying the same port!
To discover what process is, from the command prompt:
netstat -aon | find ":your_iis_web_services_port_number"
Hope this help you.
dont forget to set compilation debug="true" in your wcf service web.config file.
If your startup project different from the WCF Service that is in question and you have start wcf service host when debugging another project in the same solution checked, you will need to set compilation debug="true" in that projects App.config.

Could not find default endpoint element

I've added a proxy to a webservice to a VS2008/.NET 3.5 solution. When constructing the client .NET throws this error:
Could not find default endpoint element that references contract 'IMySOAPWebService' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuaration file was found for your application or because no endpoint element matching this contract could be found in the client element.
Searching for this error tells me to use the full namespace in the contract. Here's my app.config with full namespace:
<client>
<endpoint address="http://192.168.100.87:7001/soap/IMySOAPWebService"
binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="IMySOAPWebServicebinding"
contract="Fusion.DataExchange.Workflows.IMySOAPWebService" name="IMySOAPWebServicePort" />
</client>
I'm running XP local (I mention this because a number of Google hits mention win2k3)
The app.config is copied to app.exe.config, so that is also not the problem.
Any clues?
"This error can arise if you are calling the service in a class library and calling the class library from another project."
In this case you will need to include the WS configuration settings into the main projects app.config if its a winapp or web.config if its a web app. This is the way to go even with PRISM and WPF/Silverlight.
I solved this (I think as others may have suggested) by creating the binding and endpoint address instances myself - because I did not want to add new settings to the config files (this is a replacement for some existing library code which is used widely, and previously used an older Web Service Reference etc.), and so I wanted to be able to drop this in without having add new config settings everywhere.
var remoteAddress = new System.ServiceModel.EndpointAddress(_webServiceUrl);
using (var productService = new ProductClient(new System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding(), remoteAddress))
{
//set timeout
productService.Endpoint.Binding.SendTimeout = new TimeSpan(0,0,0,_webServiceTimeout);
//call web service method
productResponse = productService.GetProducts();
}
Edit
If you are using https then you need to use BasicHttpsBinding rather than BasicHttpBinding.
Having tested several options, I finally solved this by using
contract="IMySOAPWebService"
i.e. without the full namespace in the config. For some reason the full name didn't resolve properly
I've had this same issue. It turns out that for a web REFERENCE, you have to supply the URL as the first parameter to the constructor:
new WebService.WebServiceSoapClient("http://myservice.com/moo.aspx");
For a new style web SERVICE REFERENCE, you have to supply a name that refers to an endpoint entry in the configuration:
new WebService.WebServiceSoapClient("WebServiceEndpoint");
With a corresponding entry in Web.config or App.config:
<client>
<endpoint address="http://myservice.com/moo.aspx"
binding="basicHttpBinding"
bindingConfiguration="WebService"
contract="WebService.WebServiceSoap"
name="WebServiceEndpoint" />
</client>
</system.serviceModel>
Pretty damn hard to remove the tunnel vision on "it worked in an older program"...
I had a situation like this, where i had
WCF Service Hosted somewhere
Main Project
Consumer Project of type 'class Library' which has Service reference to a WCF Service
Main project calls methods from consumer project
Now the Consumer project had all the related configuration setting in <system.serviceModel> Tag of my app.config, its was still throwing the same error as the above.
All i did is added the same tag <system.serviceModel> to my main project's app.config file, and finally we were good to go.
The Real problem, as far as in my case was, it was reading the wrong configuration file. Instead of consumer's app.config, it was referring main proj's config. it took me two hours to figure that out.
"This error can arise if you are calling the service in a class library and calling the class library from another project."
"In this case you will need to include the WS configuration settings into the main projects app.config if its a winapp or web.config if its a web app. This is the way to go even with PRISM and WPF/Silverlight."
Yes, but if you can't change main project (Orchard CMS for example), you can keep WCF service config in your project.
You need to create a service helper with client generation method:
public static class ServiceClientHelper
{
public static T GetClient<T>(string moduleName) where T : IClientChannel
{
var channelType = typeof(T);
var contractType = channelType.GetInterfaces().First(i => i.Namespace == channelType.Namespace);
var contractAttribute = contractType.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ServiceContractAttribute), false).First() as ServiceContractAttribute;
if (contractAttribute == null)
throw new Exception("contractAttribute not configured");
//path to your lib app.config (mark as "Copy Always" in properties)
var configPath = HostingEnvironment.MapPath(String.Format("~/Modules/{0}/bin/{0}.dll.config", moduleName));
var configuration = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration(new ExeConfigurationFileMap { ExeConfigFilename = configPath }, ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
var serviceModelSectionGroup = ServiceModelSectionGroup.GetSectionGroup(configuration);
if (serviceModelSectionGroup == null)
throw new Exception("serviceModelSectionGroup not configured");
var endpoint = serviceModelSectionGroup.Client.Endpoints.OfType<ChannelEndpointElement>().First(e => e.Contract == contractAttribute.ConfigurationName);
var channelFactory = new ConfigurationChannelFactory<T>(endpoint.Name, configuration, null);
var client = channelFactory.CreateChannel();
return client;
}
}
and use it:
using (var client = ServiceClientHelper.GetClient<IDefaultNameServiceChannel>(yourLibName)) {
... get data from service ...
}
See details in this article.
This one drove me crazy.
I'm using Silverlight 3 Prism (CAB) with WCF
When I call a WCF service in a Prism module, I get the same error:
Could not find default endpoint element that references contract
'IMyService' in the service model client configuaration section. This
might be because no configuaration file was found for your application
or because no end point element matching this contract could be found
in the client element
It turns out that its looking in the Shell's .xap file for a ServiceReferences.ClientConfig file, not in the module's ServiceReferences.ClientConfig file. I added my endpoint and binding to the existing ServiceReferences.ClientConfig file in my Silverlight Shell application (it calls it's own WCF services).
Then I had to rebuild the Shell app to generate the new .xap file for my Web project's ClientBin folder.
Now this line of code finally works:
MyServiceClient myService = new MyServiceClient();
Several responses here hit upon the correct solution when you're facing the mind-numbingly obscure error of referencing the service from a class file: copy service config info into your app.config web.config of your console or windows app. None of those answers seem to show you what to copy though. Let's try and correct that.
Here's what I copied out of my class library's config file, into my console app's config file, in order to get around this crazy error for a service I write called "TranslationServiceOutbound".
You basically want everything inside the system.serviceModel section:
<system.serviceModel>
<bindings>
<basicHttpBinding>
<binding name="BasicHttpBinding_ITranslationServiceOutbound" />
</basicHttpBinding>
</bindings>
<client>
<endpoint address="http://MyHostName/TranslationServiceOutbound/TranslationServiceOutbound.svc"
binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="BasicHttpBinding_ITranslationServiceOutbound"
contract="TranslationService.ITranslationServiceOutbound" name="BasicHttpBinding_ITranslationServiceOutbound" />
</client>
I was getting this error within an ASP.NET application where the WCF service had been added to a class library which is being added to the ASP.NET application as a referenced .dll file in the bin folder. To resolve the error, the config settings in the app.config file within the class library referencing the WCF service needed to be copied into the web.config settings for the ASP.NET site/app.
I had the same problem, but changing the contract namespace didn't work for me. So I tried a .Net 2 style web reference instead of a .Net 3.5 service reference. That worked.
To use a Web reference in Visual Studio 2008, click on 'Add Service Reference', then click 'Advanced' when the dialog box appears. In that you will find an option that will let you use a Web reference instead of a Service reference.
I found (as well as copying to the client UI's App.config as I was using a Class Library interface) I had to prefix the name of the binding with the name of the Service Reference (mine is ServiceReference in the below).
e.g.:
<endpoint address="http://localhost:4000/ServiceName" binding="basicHttpBinding"
bindingConfiguration="BasicHttpBinding_ISchedulerService"
contract="ServiceReference.ISchedulerService"
name="BasicHttpBinding_ISchedulerService" />
instead of the default generated:
<endpoint address="http://localhost:4000/ServiceName" binding="basicHttpBinding"
bindingConfiguration="BasicHttpBinding_ISchedulerService"
contract="ISchedulerService"
name="BasicHttpBinding_ISchedulerService" />
Unit testing a non-library application that consumes a service can cause this problem.
The information that others have entered addresses the root cause of this. If you are trying to write automated test cases and the unit you are testing will actually invoke the service interface, you need to add the service reference to the test project. This is a flavor of the application using library type of error. I did not immediately realize this though because my code that consumes the interface is not in a library. However, when the test actually runs it will be running from the test assembly, not the assembly under test.
Adding a service reference to the unit test project resolved my issue.
I have a situation which in the Unit test. I copied the app.config file to the unit test project. So the unit test project also contains endpoint information.
I faced this problem once. It was because i was still developing the interface that uses WCF service. I configured test application and continued development. Then in development, i changed some of the services' namespaces. So i double checked "system.serviceModel -> client -> endpoint -> contract" in web.config to match WCF class. Then problem is solved.
The namespace in your config should reflect the rest of the namespace path after your client's default namespace (as configured in the project properties). Based on your posted answer, my guess is that your client is configured to be in the "Fusion.DataExchange.Workflows" namespace. If you moved the client code to another namespace you would need to update the config to match the remaining namespace path.
This error can arise if you are calling the service in a class library and calling the class library from another project.
I Have a same Problem.I'm Used the WCF Service in class library and calling the class library from windows Application project.but I'm Forget Change <system.serviceModel> In Config File of windows application Project same the <system.serviceModel> of Class Library's app.Config file.
solution: change Configuration of outer project same the class library's wcf configuration.
Hi I've encountered the same problem but the best solution is to let the .NET to configure your client side configuration. What I discover is this when I add a service reference with a query string of http:/namespace/service.svc?wsdl=wsdl0 it does NOT create a configuration endpoints at the client side. But when I remove the ?wsdl-wsdl0 and only use the url http:/namespace/service.svc, it create the endpoint configuration at the client configuration file. for short remoe the " ?WSDL=WSDL0" .
Do not put service client declaration line as class field,
instead of this, create instance at each method that used in.
So problem will be fixed. If you create service client instance as class field, then design time error occurs !
In case if you are using WPF application using PRISM framework then configuration should exist in your start up project (i.e. in the project where your bootstrapper resides.)
There seem to be several ways to create/fix this issue. For me, the CRM product I am using was written in native code and is able to call my .NET dll, but I run into the configuration information needing to be at/above the main application. For me, the CRM application isn't .NET, so I ended up having to put it in my machine.config file (not where I want it). In addition, since my company uses Websense I had a hard time even adding the Service Reference due to a 407 Proxy Authentication Required issue, that to required a modification to the machine.cong.
Proxy solution:
To get the WCF Service Reference to work I had to copy the information from the app.config of my DLL to the main application config (but for me that was machine.config). And I also had to copy the endpoint information to that same file. Once I did that it starting working for me.
Ok. My case was a little diffrent but finally i have found the fix for it:
I have a Console.EXE -> DLL -> Invoking WS1 -> DLL -> Invoking WS2
I have had both the configurations of the service model of WS1, and WS2 in the Console.EXE.config as recommended. - didnt solve the issue.
But it still didn't work, until i have added the WebReference of WS2 to WS1 also and not only to the DLL that actually creating and invoking the proxy of WS2.
If you reference the web service in your class library then you have to copy app.config to your windows application or console application
solution: change Configuration of outer project same the class library's wcf configuration.
Worked for me
I had the same Issue
I was using desktop app and using Global Weather Web service
I deleted the service reference and added the web reference and problem solved
Thanks
Solution for me was to remove the endpoint name from the Endpoint Name attribute in client web.config
this allowed the proxy to use
ChannelFactory<TService> _channelFactory = new ChannelFactory<TService>("");
only took all day to work out.
Also the contract name was wrong once this fix was in place although it had been wrong when the initial error appear.
Double then triple check for contract name strings people !!
attrib: Ian
Allow me to add one more thing to look for. (Tom Haigh's answer already alludes to it, but I want to be explicit)
My web.config file had the following defined:
<protocolMapping>
<add binding="basicHttpsBinding" scheme="https" />
</protocolMapping>
I was already using basicHttpsBinding for one reference, but then I added a new reference which required basicHttpBinding (no s). All I had to do was add that to my protocolMapping as follows:
<protocolMapping>
<add binding="basicHttpBinding" scheme="http" />
<add binding="basicHttpsBinding" scheme="https" />
</protocolMapping>
As L.R. correctly points out, this needs to be defined in the right places. For me, that meant one in my Unit Test project's app.config as well as one in the main service project's web.config.
I had this error when I was referencing the Contract in the configuration file element without the global scope operator.
i.e.
<endpoint contract="global::MyNamepsace.IMyContract" .../>
works, but
<endpoint contract="MyNamepsace.IMyContract" .../>
gives the "Could not find default endpoint element that references contract" error.
The assembly containing MyNamepsace.IMyContract is in a different assembly to the main application, so this may explain the need to use the global scope resolution.
When you are adding a service reference
beware of namespace you are typing in:
You should append it to the name of your interface:
<client>
<endpoint address="http://192.168.100.87:7001/soap/IMySOAPWebService"
binding="basicHttpBinding"
contract="MyNamespace.IMySOAPWebService" />
</client>
I got same error and I have tried many things but didn't work, than I noticed that my "contract" was not same at all projects, I changed the contract as would be same for all projects inside solution and than it worked.
This is project A
<client>
<endpoint address="https://xxxxxxxx" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="basic" contract="ServiceReference.IIntegrationService" name="basic" />
</client>
Project B :
<client>
<endpoint address="xxxxxxxxxxxxx" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="basic" contract="ServiceReference1.IIntegrationService" name="basic" />
</client>
Finally I changed for both as :
<client>
<endpoint address="https://xxxxxxxxxxx" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="basic" contract="MyServiceReferrence.IIntegrationService" name="basic" />
</client>
I had the same issue and it was solved only when the host application and the dll that used that endpoint had the same service reference name.